Montana Sky

Author: Nora Roberts
Published: Reissued June 27, 2006 (Berkley), First print March 1996 (Putnam)
Category: Romance
Rating: 9/10

Finally, my first Nora Roberts (not counting the J.D. Robbs)! Jennie, the Nora Roberts expert, recommended this title for my first, and I have to give her a big thank you because I had such a great time reading this book.

Montana Sky is the story of three half-sisters, each sharing the same father and very different mothers. Willa, the youngest, has lived on Jacky Mercy's ranch her whole life, as her mother died before Jack could divorce her. The other two sisters, Tess and Lily, return to the ranch to attend the funeral and the reading of the will. In order to claim their inheritance, each a third share of the ranch (one of the best in Montana), the three women will have to live there for one year.

During the span of the year, three women who are so different from each other become the sisters they never had for each other, and of course, the perfect man for each sister appears quickly, even if Tess, the stubborn city girl screenwriter, doesn't realize it yet. She winds up with Nate, the cowboy lawyer who breeds quarterhorses. Lily, the battered woman, finds a gentle man to heal her heart in Willa's half-brother (through the mother, so there's no incest here!) Adam, who works on Mercy Ranch managing the horses. Willa finally falls for the man she swore never to marry (because her father wanted it), Ben McKinnon of the neighboring rival ranch. With all these hot yet courteous gentleman cowboys, I think I might have to set aside my rule of "no cowboys in my romances."

The descriptions of ranch life and the wild, yet beautiful land of Montana were fantastic and appealed to the part of me that always wanted to have a chicken coop so I could feed chickens and have fresh eggs each morning.

I did feel some anxiety while reading this book because the reader knows that Lily's abusive ex-husband is stalking her while working on Ben's ranch. It's like when you're watching a horror movie and yell at the stupid characters on the screen that no, it's not a great idea to split up. But the tension and pressure brought on by the villain are great accoutrements to the romances and even nudges them along.

This was a fantastic read, great for a lazy weekend, and is not your average fluffy romance. It has funny moments and serious moments and the dialogue is spot on. I was just a little disappointed at the end and felt that for a book with three well-developed romances (usually one romance is in the forefront and the rest are very minor) could've done well with an epilogue. For example, Tess was about to get on a plane back to CA after the year on the ranch, but changes her mind at the last minute to stay with Nate. And that's the last you hear about her. It would've been nice to see her sisters' reaction to her decision to stay, and to find out about Mary's first child. If it had a good epilogue, this would've been a 10/10.

And remember, this was a Jennie-approved book! Guaranteed for some seriously good reading.